The business community at Katutura is grappling the consequences of an ongoing water and electricity crisis, as tensions mount over the controversy surrounding debt-collection agency RedForce Debt Management.
Residents have voiced their dissatisfaction with the way the Windhoek City Council is handling the matter.
On 19 July, the Katutura Residents Committee met with the city’s management to express their concerns over the appointment of RedForce.
Following the meeting, the Windhoek City Council asked for two weeks to deliberate on the issues raised during the discussion, with a deadline set for 2 August.
The city council held a briefing with the residents and RedForce on the situation on 12 September.
In response to the city’s briefing, the Katutura Residents Committee held a press conference on 19 September.
Caught in the ongoing controversy are local businesses at Katutura.
They are facing a severe crisis, as essential services like water and electricity supply have been cut, leaving them struggling to operate and meet their customers’ needs.
Philadelphia Olifant, a resident of Single Quarters at Katutura, says her electricity has been off for about four months.
She says before the current situation, the city council had a tendency to disregard payment plans the residents proposed.
“Before that I had a problem with the municipality where they demand and even put pressure on you. You tell them you have a certain amount, and they will decide what amount you should put down,” Olifant says.
DILEMMA
According to Olifant, residents and business owners are selling items in their shops and households or turning to cash loans to pay off debts.
She says the city council does not warn residents before switching off their water and electricity supply.
She says because there is no electricity to power their equipment, they are collecting dust and are rusting.
“The only profit we are gaining here is damaged goods,” Olifant says.
Another resident of Single Quarters, Liina Ndanyengwa, who owns a bar, says her family has been struggling to keep up with the payment of water and electricity bills since the Covid-19 pandemic.
She says she uses her whole income to pay water and electricity bills.
According to Ndanyengwa, the bar is the family’s only form of income.
“From that time of corona, our businesses had to shut down and things have operated as well as they did. We don’t work, and the bar was our only source of income,” she says.
She says although the bar is still open, there are hardly any customers, because they have no water and electricity.
Ndanyengwa is appealing to the city council to provide the same aid given to residents during the pandemic.
HARD TIMES
Jacky Kasume from the Katutura Residents Committee and a business owner says the handing over of accounts to RedForce has caused a lot of hardship, including people losing their stands. She calls on the city council to consider that the residents have been its clients for a long time.
“I don’t understand why the city handed over the accounts to RedForce . . . it’s really not good . . . Why are they doing this to us now? They are killing us,” Kasume asks.
Yesterday, City of Windhoek spokesperson Harold Akwenye said: “I can only respond on the council ‘s standpoint.”
